


Drag Me Into The Woods

by Sasou_Amalie



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Banter, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Smut, Memory Loss, Nomad V (Cyberpunk 2077), Pining, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post The Devil Ending (Cyberpunk 2077), Sexual Tension, Shameless Smut, Smut, The Devil Ending (Cyberpunk 2077)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:09:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29634444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasou_Amalie/pseuds/Sasou_Amalie
Summary: Takemura and V parted ways after she agreed to join the Secure Your Soul-program – a lot of things between them left unsaid and undone. Years have passed and the Arasaka soldier still finds himself unable to let go of the past or forgive himself for all the times let her down.
Relationships: Goro Takemura & V, Goro Takemura/Female V, Goro Takemura/V
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	1. Foal

**Author's Note:**

> Oh shit, here we go again.  
> Since I'm borderline obsessed with Cyberpunk 2077, which led to playing every single ending, here's my sort-of Fix-It-Fic for "The Devil", IMHO the most devastating one by far. I expect the tone of this work to fit the overall mood, with some levity thrown in here and there.
> 
> This fic can be read as the second part to my work [Tethered](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28965279/chapters/71079153), but also works as a standalone (for the most parts).
> 
> In case you're here for just the smutty parts, check out Chapter 4 [Glóandi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29634444/chapters/73642980)
> 
> Titles are Holy Fawn tracks again, A+ soundtrack for writing *chef's kiss*

_It had taken years for the darkness to become her home, the absence of everything giving her a peace of mind that had been hard to come by for most of her life, yet she felt free, floating in a never-ending stream of data, detached from everything._  
_With the sudden light came a searing pain, a shock to her system, leaving her naked and raw, the feeling of defenselessness so universal that she asked herself if this was death, finally coming for her._  
  
“She is opening her eyes,” she heard a voice, somewhat familiar, while the blinding light turned into contourless blotches of color swirling around her.  
“Can you hear me?” someone said, but to her it felt like a scream into her ears, leaving them ringing as she tried to lift her hands to shield herself from all the incoming stimuli.  
“We got some faint movement,” the voice said. “We’re not out of the critical phase, but for now it looks like the transfer was a success. Take her to the recovery room, monitor her closely for the next 24 hours and keep me posted about her condition.”  
She felt her body moving through space and time, a sudden primal fear clawing at her, making her want to scream her lungs out before she drifted back into the peaceful void.


	2. Vespertine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the mundanity of Takemura's daily life is suddenly upended by the announced arrival of Hanako Arasaka at the Takamatsu branch, some ghosts from his past slip through the cracks to haunt him again.

_Takamatsu, spring 2087  
_

It was a quiet day, like all the days in the past ten years, since he had been – technically – demoted and sent to oversee the special forces training at the Arasaka branch located in Takamatsu. He had most of the time to himself, apart from training sessions and the occasional meeting, report or audit held by agents sent in from Tokyo.  
Takemura spend the calm morning standing on his balcony, overlooking the Arasaka compound, a tea on the table next to him. A day like every other, he thought to himself, hadn’t it been for the mail waiting for him in his inbox, sent by Oda.  
  
_Takemura-san,_ he read, _I a writing to inform you that I will be accompanying Hanako-sama for her upcoming visit at the Takamatsu branch. We will arrive in the evening and wish to hold a private meeting with you, the details are attached. Clear your schedule for the entire week._

_I am looking forward to seeing you, old friend.  
Oda_  


He hadn’t seen either one of them in three years, besides the few mandatory press conferences Hanako-sama had given as head of the company and he wondered what finally brought them here, after all this time.  
Takemura did his best to not stray from his daily routine, but found himself to be unusually restless throughout the day, his mind constantly drifting, a lingering fear in the back of his head.

***

When the time came, he awaited the AV arriving from Tokyo in the hangar, standing at attention, his hands in front of his body, his face unmoved. He stoically watched Oda exit the vehicle, dressed in only the finest fabrics, his deep black hair now gathered into a bun on top of his head, the sides still shaved. Hanako followed him, her ageless body wrapped in a thick, woolen coat.  
“Takemura-san,” Oda greeted him, bowing slightly.  
“Hanako-sama, Oda,” Takemura replied, returning the bow. “What brings you here?”  
“We have an important matter to discuss,” Hanako Arasaka said quietly, her pale eyes resting on him. “Walk with me, Takemura-san.” The soldier bowed again, gesturing the head of Arasaka to follow him. He escorted her through the hangar, followed by a flight of stairs that led towards the executive offices, where they walked the hallway in silence, their footfalls muffled by the luxurious, red carpet underneath their soles.  
Takemura held the door for her as she stepped out onto the balcony, the sun already setting over the city.

“It has been a while since we last spoke, Takemura-san,” Hanako said, standing next to the railing, her face unmoved.  
“Yet my memory of this conversation is still very vivid,” Takemura countered, rubbing his hands together, a sudden anger burning inside his chest.  
“Are you still holding on to the accusations you made?” the Arasaka heiress asked, her gaze pure ice.  
“I was coming from a place of truth,” the soldier said calmly. “It was you who failed to deliver what was promised.”  
“I said I would try and _help_ her,” Hanako breathed. “I never promised to _save_ her.”  
“And somehow she ended up as an engram, property of Arasaka, in the process” Takemura retorted, arms crossed in front of his chest. “A fate she never asked for.”  
“But a way out, so generously given to her,” the heiress said, narrowing her eyes. Takemura sighed deeply, the memories of his last conversation with V slowly opening the ever-present wound of having failed her, time and time again.  
“I do not wish to discuss this… her,” he husked, his tone tired, to which Hanako answered with a short, knowing nod.  
“I understand, Takemura-san,” she agreed. “But please, follow me into my office.”

The unease he had felt all morning intensified when they stepped into Hanako-sama's office and Oda was already there, standing aside the marble table that dominated the entire room, hands clasped in front of his body, his icy stare trained on his former teacher.  
Hanako walked around her desk and sat down, not before giving Oda a short nod as the signal to leave the room. She folded her hands on the stone surface and cleared her throat, her unemotional expression feeling like a threat to him.  
“Hanako-sama,” he said, his tone pure indifference. “Are you here to _retire_ me?”  
A cheerless laugh fell from her lips. “Do you think we would be this obvious about it?”  
Takemura let out a noncommittal grunt and walked over to the table. “Then why pull me out of all my obligations for the next few days?”  
She gave him no answer and turned her head towards the door, watching Oda and the man entering with him closely.  
  
“Hellman,” Takemura hissed, his voice low, tempted to slap the smug smile right out of the bioengineer’s face when he saw _her_. The realization that she finally had returned to him after close to a decade knocked the air our of his lungs, so he just stared at her, wide-eyed and silent. She looked different, older, her usual fluffy bob had grown out into a luscious mane of hair that fell softly over her collarbones, a white synth silk dress enveloped her body, the cut-out revealing the ink on her chest and shoulders. She wore heels, something he’d never seen her do before, but she moved with the same effortless grace she usually flaunted in combat.  
“Goro Takemura,” she said, a smile ghosting across her lips, the smokey timbre of her voice reverberating deep inside his chest with an intensity that made his heart skip a beat. “You look like a million eddies.”  
“V,” he husked, his voice catching in his throat as she placed her palm on his chest, her gaze holding his for a split second before her lips brushed his cheek. “It is good to see you.”  
The fresh floral scent of her stayed with him when she moved past him to face Hanako.  
“A word?” the heiress suggested and stepped towards the balcony door, the former mercenary following her outside, leaving a troubled Takemura behind. 

“You never were one for surprises,” Oda mused, his eyes on Takemura, who tried his best to hide the maelstrom of feelings surging inside his chest behind a collected exterior.  
“No,” Takemura replied, rubbing his hands. “But I do appreciate the effort.”  
Oda let out a short laugh, his gaze now on Hellman.  
“She is my masterpiece,” the engineer said, joining the two soldiers. “A synth body, constructed from her very own DNA, aging in realtime. Tattoo artists flown in from Night City restored every inch of ink on her skin, a ripperdoc re-installed most of her cyberware.” Hellman explained.  
“But the true miracle is the state-of-the-art artificial brain that houses her engram and works perfectly with the synth-bods interface. No more Relic malfunctions or disintegrating neural structures,” the researcher rejoiced. “She is as good as new – no, even better.” His complacent grin made Takemura sick to his stomach, every cell in his body yearning for a breath of fresh air.  
“We have arranged for her to stay the week, she will be residing in the amethyst suite at Konpeki Plaza,” Oda informed him. “After that she will return to the Tokyo branch with us.”  
“Understood,” Takemura replied curtly, knowing that this present was more of a decoy than Hanako-sama or Oda cared to admit.  
“Catching up sounds like a good plan, don’t you think?” Hellman chimed in, his hand happily clapping his shoulder. “You two were always so fond of each other.” With that he turned around and left the executive office, his absence a welcome gift.  
“Hanako-sama will leave a shuttle at her disposal,” Oda relayed further instructions. “You may spend your time as you please.” He bowed gently the second the heiress entered the room, his expression inscrutable.  
“Takemura-san,” Hanako addressed the former soldier directly. “We will now return to Konpeki Plaza, give you two some time to talk.”  
“Thank you, Hanako-sama,” he said with a bow. “I am so very grateful for her return.” He stepped aside and went to join his long lost friend on the balcony.

“Valerie,” he husked, his heart fluttering inside his chest as soon as she turned around and looked at him. “How are you feeling?” He slowly took a few steps towards her, like he feared she was a mirage, bound to dissolve into nothing the second he finally reached her.  
“I am fine… still adjusting,” she answered truthfully, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “Went to sleep in space, woke up in Tokyo a decade later and then jetted to Takamatsu, barely a week after that. Quite hard to wrap my head around everything that has happened.” She laughed one of the rough laughs he came to like so much.  
“You seem to be doing well, though,” she continued, her bright eyes taking in every detail of his face.  
“I cannot complain,” he replied curtly. “They welcomed me back into their ranks and entrusted me with tasks I learned to enjoy.”  
“God, you and that bleak outlook on life,” she tsked him and stepped away from the railing. “I am sure Oda-san has given you all the details?”  
“He has,” Takemura assured her. “You should return to your suite, get some rest.”  
“Yeah,” she breathed, her gaze on the compound and city at her feet.  
“But please, will you allow me to show you the city tomorrow?” he asked, his heart suddenly picking up speed.  
“Sure,” she agreed, a coy expression on her face. “Just let me know where we’ll meet.”  
“I will pick you up at Konpeki Plaza in the afternoon,” he suggested. “We can go for a walk, spend some time catching up…”  
“Sounds perfect,” she said softly, her fingers wrapping around his arm. “Send me the details, I will see you tomorrow.”  
With that, she stepped away and walked towards the AV awaiting her on the pad reserved for executives, leaving a bewildered Arasaka soldier behind. 

***

V entered her suite in Konpeki Plaza, a faint feeling of dread nestled inside her chest whenever she set foot in this room, leaving her anxious and confused. She stepped out of her heels and undressed, her reflection in the large windows a stranger. Sure, most things seemed the same, given the fact that she’d last looked into a mirror over a decade ago, but something was missing.  
The former mercenary placed her palms on the cold surface and studied every inch of this body that seemed to be her own, yet felt so unfamiliar. Her old self used to look younger, the hair cut into a fringed bob, some of the youthful plumpness of her face had faded away, replaced by a handful of fine lines.  
Her eyes remained the same, big and bright, still clouded with the sorrow of a dying woman, as did the colorful tattoos that decorated her body, hell, even her cyberware was still intact.  
She sighed deeply, a sudden emptiness hollowing her chest and just like that, she started crying.  
V sobbed and fell to her knees, tears spilling from her eyes, her frail body trembling with every shaky breath she took.

She found herself sitting in a red plastic chair, staring at the bullet pendant dangling from her hand, her combat boots resting on the low banister, the city spreading behind her soles, unnerved by a faint and unsteady clicking noise.  
“Will you stop the fidgeting?!” she hissed, turning her head to scowl at Johnny, who sat on the banister, one leg on each side, looking at the sun coming up behind the skyscrapers.  
“I’m not doing anything!” he countered, his gaze now on her face.  
“Then what the fuck is that sound?” V groaned, looking around the deserted roof only to come up empty handed. “You hear it too?”  
“Yeah,” Johnny said, swinging his left leg back onto solid ground. “If I only knew… But I got a bad feelin’ about this.”  
“You’re awfully stressed for bein’ a supposedly chill rockerboy,” V taunted him, pulling her feet off the banister to sit upright.  
“How are you not worried?” Johnny scoffed. “And where the hell is Jackie?”  
“Haven’t seen him in days,” V shrugged. “Maybe he got tired of hanging out after seeing my tired old mug every day for the past decade.”  
A noncommittal hum fell from Johnny’s lips as he lit a burner.  
“You and I both know that he wasn’t the real deal to begin with,” she sighed. “Just some kind of record on a loop. Still, was nice to see a familiar face besides your visage, so I’m not complaining.”  


“Get up!” Johnny suddenly prompted her. “It’s time."  
“For what?!” she asked, exasperated, but pushed herself out the chair anyway, now standing next to her imaginary friend, both of them looking at the city.  
“Leave that with me,” Silverhand ordered, pointing at the keepsake in her hand.  
“Why?”  
“You are borderline pissing me off with your stupid questions, V,” he sighed, lowering his sunglasses in front of his eyes. “Because where you’re going, you won't need it anymore.”  
“What are you gonna do?” she asked quietly, placing the pendant in his palm.  
“My job here is done, so I’ll leave Night City first thing in the morning,” he grinned.  
“I’m gonna miss you, asshole” V rasped, resting her head against Johnny’s shoulder, finding comfort in the familiarity of their closeness.  
“Me too, kid,” Johnny retorted and placed his arm around her back. “But now you gotta wake the fuck up, samurai, you got an empire to burn!” With that he gave her a hard shove between the shoulderblades, causing her to stumble and drop off the building.  
  
V jerked with a panicked gasp, her heart suddenly in her throat, the faint clicking noise now to her left. A few shuddering breaths left her lips before she finally found the strength to open her eyes. Everything was still hazy and way too bright, but she noticed someone sitting next to her, relentlessly typing away on a tablet.  
“What the fuck,” she croaked, her voice rough, words unfamiliar in her mouth and her visitor looked up. Blue eyes examined her over thin rimmed glasses, the face of the man oddly familiar.  
“V,” he said softly, placing the tablet on a table at his side. “Can you hear me?”  
“Yah,” she breathed, arms scrambling for purchase against the soft mattress she was lying on.  
“That’s good!” the man said, his tone excited. “How about your vision?”  
“Blurry,” she husked. “Too… bright.”  
“Your brain is still getting used to the visual stimuli it has been deprived of for the past ten years,” he mumbled. “I will adjust the brightness for the time being.” V sensed the dimming lights more than she actually saw them, but it was a relief either way.  
“Now, could you wiggle your toes for me?” the man asked and she complied, suddenly very aware of how cold her hands and feet were.  
“So… freezing,” she croaked, opening her eyes again.  
“The circulation might need a little time to adjust, a nurse will administer some medication for that,” the man mumbled, typing yet another note. “Do you remember who I am?”  
V strained her eyes to look at him, the piercing blue irises behind glasses over a crooked nose and thin lips surrounded by a short, blonde beard sparking something deep inside her, a feeling of… dread? Disdain? A short sequence of her knocking him out with a gun flickered through her brain.  
“Hellman,” V rasped, followed by a cough. “Anders Hellman.”  
“Excellent!” he exclaimed, noting something. “What’s the last thing you remember before you blacked out?”  
“Chair,” she breathed, her eyes falling shut again, her mind drifting to the plastic lawnchair on the rooftop, with Johnny at her side.  
“Makes sense,” Hellman nodded. “The engram station must’ve been quite the experience. Well, that’s enough for now, I will let you rest for today, testing will continue tomorrow.” She watched him gather his tablet before he walked towards the door, where he stopped to look at her once more.  
“It’s great to see you doing so well.”

Throughout the hellish recovery process Hellman had warned her that episodes like this might happen so she crawled towards her bag, fishing for the inhaler he’d given her in case she needed something to calm down.  
She took two huffs and leaned against the massive bed, arms wrapped around her legs, forehead resting on the knees as the calming effect of the sedative washed over her.  
This day had just been too much, she told herself as her breath steadied, the traveling, new environments and her supervised reunion with Takemura, who’d been such a big part of her life before she’d signed away her soul to Arasaka.  
The moment she’d looked into his eyes, something inside her had ripped open, at the same time the flood of feelings she’d anticipated held off, like her emotions had suddenly dulled down, the discrepancy between expectations and reality driving her insane. She probably just needed a little more time, V pondered, time with Takemura, someone who knew her by heart, to find back to her old self, after all that was the reason Hanako had sent her here in the first place.  
V wiped the tears off her face and slipped into the queen-sized bed, secretly hoping that tomorrow would turn out to be a better day.


	3. Lo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending ten years locked in Mikoshi, V has to adjust to a world that kept spinning without her. Feeling detached from everything she used to be, she turns to the only remaining person from her past: The Arasaka soldier Goro Takemura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but real life and work got in the way, but here it is: The third chapter!
> 
> This fic is not completely planned yet, but I think there will be two, maybe three chapters more, one of them definitely containing some smutty goodness because I can't help myself.
> 
> I am looking forward to your kudos, comments and interactions, I see and appreciate all of you :)

The sedative had pulled her into a dark and dreamless slumber, enveloping her in that special kind of oblivion Mikoshi had procured for the past ten years. V was desperately trying to find comfort in the numbness, but there was that noise in the back of her head, a faint feeling of uneasiness burrowing in her insides, relentlessly pulling her towards the surface.  
She opened her eyes and found herself inside a helicopter, grabbing a duffle bag which held a bomb before she jumped onto the roof of Arasaka tower, making her way through dozens of dead bodies at her feet.  
  
“Remember the plan?” a voice she recognized asked her.  
“Get the payload on the elevator, arm it, let gravity do its thing,” she snarked back and loaded her Malorian Arms 3516 with that special flick of her wrist that send the weapon spinning. “Explosion rocks the foundation, tower crumbles – chaos, screaming, roll credits."  
She arrived at the foot of the stairs where Rogue was busy urging Spider Murphy to broadcast the evac announcement right before the door opened and they stormed inside. She gunned down the soldiers in her way, heads exploding into red mist, leaving decapitated corpses in her wake.  
V found herself inside an elevator, placing the bomb.  
“Bushido II – bomb’s name was what?” she uttered to herself.  
“Wrap it up, we gotta delta!” Rogue shouted from behind her back. She could swear she’d seen Bushido X at that cinema all the way over in North Oak, but that wasn’t possible, was it?  
“The ‘Demolitron’,” she answered her own question, pressing the buttons to activate the detonator. “We’re good to blow.” She shot the cables as she backed out of the cabin, sending the elevator tumbling towards the ground floor.  
“‘Saka elites incoming! Run for it!” a voice sounded from her comm, but there was one more thing she needed to take care of. Rogue was understandably pissed, but gave her four minutes before she’d leave her sorry ass behind and V hurried through the door leading to Saburo Arasaka’s office.  
More Arasaka soldiers were coming her way and she took them down, one by one, blood soiling the wooden floor, corpses defiling the zen garden in the middle of the room. She went up the stairs with quick steps, reloading the gun that felt like an extension to her hand, before she went to unleash lead into another wave of devoted soldiers.  
  
V gave herself ten seconds to steady her breathing as she reached the automatic door that kept her from her objective, bracing herself as it opened with a hiss and there he was – seated at the marble monstrosity he called a desk – Saburo Arasaka, in the flesh. She trained the gun on his face, aiming right for that spot between the eyes as she slowly walked towards him.  
“You, piece of shit took everything from me!” she growled through gritted teeth, her own voice suddenly strange to her ears. “It is about time you pay for each and every crime against humanity you’ve committed.” She tightened the finger on the trigger but all Saburo Arasaka did was smile.  
“All that pure, unadulterated rage, wasted,” he tsked, pushing himself up.  
“Shut your mouth,” she hissed, following his head with the gun as he slowly walked around the table. “You are _disgusting_.”  
“Ignorant child,” he tutted her. “You are not able to stop me. No one is. I am immortal.”  
A dry laugh left his lips as he stopped in front of his table, arms folded behind his back, examining her with mild curiosity.  
“Neither you, nor the terrorist inside your head will be able to end Saburo Arasaka,” he said calmly. “Many people tried, most of them rest in graves by now.”  
  
V stared at him, teeth grinding, rage burning like a wildfire inside her chest. “This is for Johnny and Jackie, Santiago and Alt, Evelyn and T-Bug and every person on this planet who had to suffer under your delusions of grandeur!” the mercenary took a step forward, her finger pulling the trigger when she noticed a shadow in her peripheral vision, right before something hit her in the head with the force of a meteorite. She fell to the floor, the gun skittering into a corner of the room. Her right eye burned with the blood that spilled from a gash in her temple, but she forced it open anyway, now face to face with her attacker who wrapped his hand around her throat, the enforced digits crushing her windpipe. V stared at his face, her eyes growing wide as she recognized him. His hair was all black now, but already kept in a bun atop his head, his face clean shaven and younger, the cyberware beneath his left ear still intact, no endoskeleton covering his throat.  
“Goro,” she croaked, clawing at his merciless fingers digging into her soft skin. “Don’t.”  
The Arasaka soldier bared his teeth and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, darkness fraying her field of vision.  
“Arasaka-sama, what shall I do with the intruder,” Takemura asked with the utmost devotion.  
“Finish her,” Saburo Arasaka grunted, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Dispose of the body afterwards.”  
Her eyes flickered across the face she’d come to know so well, searching for something resembling recognition in his eyes, but there was nothing but utter disgust clouding his pale gaze as he pulled his weapon and pressed it to her temple.  
“Rot in hell, _kuso-ama._ ” he snarled, pulling the trigger right the second she screamed his name.  
  
V jolted awake with a gasp, her body drenched in cold sweat, her hand flying to her temple as if she was expecting to feel warm blood on her fingers. She breathed heavily, her heart pounding inside her chest as her eyes darted across the room, the dream already slipping away from her.  
“What the fuck was that?” she whispered, her fingers grasping for the inhaler on the nightstand, relief flooding her the second she felt the cold plastic in her palm. She took two huffs and leaned against the headboard, greedily sucking air into her lungs.  
“Shit’s more fucked up than the Relic malfunctions,” she sighed, peeling out from under the covers, hoping that a hot shower would wash away the last remnants of what only could’ve been a nightmare.

***

The old soldier seldom left the compound, since most of the things he needed were to be found within the walls of the Arasaka quarter housed right next to the port, but today posed an exception: Sitting behind the steering wheel of a sleek sports car he rolled out of the underground garages, towards the main road that eventually led him down town. The sun was out, the air unusually warm for the end of march and he decided to enjoy his drive through the bustling city with the top opened, the decadence of this excursion not lost on him.  
He listened to jazz out of habit, something he did whenever he found himself inside a car, the gentle breeze pulling at his hair when he weaved into the traffic leading him towards Konpeki Plaza, situated smack in the middle of the city.  
  
His journey was quick and uneventful, and the soldier didn’t bother driving all the way around the monumental building forged from steel and glass to park his Mizutani Shion in the garage. He instead decided to wait out front, much to the dismay of the valet, who came towards the car but stopped dead in his tracks as soon as Takemura got out of the cabriolet, growling a curt “Get lost, I am here on official business,” his way, before he settled next to the passengers side, standing at attention, his hands clasped in front of his hips.  
He felt the valet’s eyes resting on him, so he rolled his neck before he squared his shoulders, drawing himself up to his full height, pleased to see him retreat into the hotel in a hurry.  
Takemura had notified V about his imminent arrival the minute he had left his living quarters, letting her know that he’d pick her up in around twenty minutes to which she had replied that she was looking forward to seeing him again.  
  
The sliding glass doors opened and V emerged, languidly strutting outside. He was surprised and slightly taken aback by her corpo getup, the elegant white nano weave yukata tucked into an aramid-enforced skirt with an asymmetrical hemline reminding him of the very first time he’d seen her, all bent out of shape, leaning against his car in the middle of Night City’s landfill. Takemura swallowed hard as she walked towards him, her heels clicking on the asphalt, her loose hair falling over her right shoulder, gently swaying with every step. She was so different from the V he once knew, but beautiful all the same.  
  
“Didn’t know picking up women in fancy sport cars was your thing,” she joked, lowering her gaze before she looked him in the eyes. “This is the exact make and model you drove when we left the Night City landfill, except for the color. The modest black suits you.”  
“As I once told you, I am a creature of habit,” he said, a smile ghosting across his lips. “But if it is making you uncomfortable, we can walk.”  
“It’s just a car,” she said and he opened the door on the passenger side with a small nod. Her fingertips grazed his shoulders as she walked past him and lowered herself into the seat, her floral perfume lingering in the air between them. “So far I have only seen the city from inside an AV, a long drive will be nice for a change. Where are you taking me?”  
“You will see,” he retorted curtly, closing the door. “But it is just a quick detour.”  
“Still full of surprises,” she acknowledged softly, her tone warm and content.

He stopped the Mizutani Shion on a mostly deserted parking lot, only a handful of vehicles scattered beside them and the former bodyguard hurried to step around the car and open the door for V.  
“Shit, Goro!” she exclaimed as she stood up. “This is… amazing!” V looked at him, her eyes wide with wonder, a lopsided smile gracing her lips.  
“I’ve never seen a real cherry tree blossom before,” she mumbled, gazing at the abundance of light pink and white flowers stretching all along the park in front of them. “Only the holo-ones at Night City.”  
“Coming here for _Hanami_ each year is one of the few sentimentalities I allow myself,” Takemura admitted curtly, looking at V, remembering how he’d studied her through his ancient scope from the other side of the Cherry Blossom Market as she marveled at the parade, her fingers outstretched towards the sky as if she was trying to catch one of the holographic cherry blossom petals in her palm, the smile on her face so open and carefree that for a moment both of them had forgotten that their lives and so much more was at stake.  
“It is a lovely view,” she agreed, shielding her eyes against the bright sun.  
“Let us walk,” Takemura suggested, his hand gently brushing against her arm. “I wish to show you some of my favorite places.”  
  
“I kinda get why you said that there is nothing to admire about Night City,” V broke the comfortable silence between them as they walked across a small bridge, side by side underneath the cherry trees. “Compared to Takamatsu, it was just a handful of skyscrapers and mega buildings strewn across the map, filled with filth and chrome to the brim.”  
“My memories have dulled over time,” Takemura said. “But the city had its beautiful moments.”  
“Oh?” V exclaimed sardonically.  
“The sun rising above an abandoned construction site, a bakeneko bathing in its light,” he husked. “Neon lights that dripped from the buildings into the street after heavy rain. The view from the balconies at Cherry Blossom Market during the parade.” He looked at her, remembering how he’d found himself captivated by her face during all those instances, the golden light illuminating her faints freckles, neon lights painting her tear-streaked face in hues of pink and purple, shining eyes over a beaming smile obscured by translucent projections of cherry blossom petals floating through the night.  
“That bakeneko really was something,” she said, her face softening at the memory and for a second he caught a glimpse of the young V, sitting across from him, telling him stories about her youth as a nomad and his heart painfully palpitated inside his chest, the sudden longing for the levity of this fleeting moment catching him by surprise.  
“I’ve seen so many memorable places in Night City, yet the rooftop above Misty’s Esoterica is the only place my gonk brain seems to remember,” V huffed, unable to ban the frustration from her voice.  
“The only place?” Takemura echoed warily.  
“Hellman said the temporary loss of memories is an expected side effect of a neural transfer after such a long time, certain stimuli are supposed to trigger my hippocampus, help me regain most of them over time.”  
“An all you remember of your time in Night City is that rooftop?” he inquired, a cold sensation trickling down his spine.  
“No, there are bits and pieces, some of them fuzzy. A few memories are more like faint… feelings, dulled by passing time or freeze-frames, gone the second I blink.”  
“You should never have left the facility,” Takemura assessed. “Why would Hellman agree to send you here? I must speak to Hanako-sama about this.”  
“Calm down, Goro,” V countered, her fingers wrapping around his arm. “It was her idea to let me reconnect with an old friend, hoping it might speed up the process.”

“What is the significance of this rooftop?” the Arasaka soldier asked, his voice low.  
“Misty took me there to get some fresh air and I sat there for an hour, maybe two, trying to figure out what to do,” V recalled the events. “I had spoken to Hanako at Embers and was on my way out when the Relic malfunctioned again, just about killing me this time. Johnny took over and brought me to Vik, who did his best to patch me up again.”  
“You did not mention any of it when I Hellman and I picked you up at Misty’s Esoterica,” Takemura said heatedly.  
“Come on, Goro, you’ve seen the shape I was in,” V sighed, her eyes on the cherry trees. “You would’ve never agreed to let me help with our plan, had I told you that I almost checked out a few hours before.”  
A noncommittal grunt fell from the soldiers lips.  
“But yeah, talking to Johnny, weighing all my options before calling Hanako from this rooftop, agreeing to her offer is the last thing I remember before I surrendered myself and entered Mikoshi.”  
“I was sent to talk to you after you had spent fifty-six days isolated in that Arasaka space facility,” Takemura husked. “I did not bring good news, but you were composed, calm even. You signed the contract and entered the engram station shortly after our conversation and a quick farewell.”  
“I don’t recall any of it,” V breathed, her eyebrows knitting over tired eyes.  
“They allowed me to stay until the process was finished,” Takemura went on to explain, his heart suddenly heavy. “But they did not let me see you again.”  
“What happened to my body?” she inquired calmly.  
“Cremated in the facility soon after the transfer was complete,” Takemura answered truthfully. “I made arrangements for the ashes to be sent to Night City for a proper burial.” She watched his gaze harden at the memories, realizing how much it cost him to talk about this after all those years.  
“Who did you send them to?” she breathed, bracing herself on the banister, her eyes on her fingernails.  
“Mamá Welles,” he told her, sighing deeply. “I called her to let her know that those were the instructions you’d given the staff in case something went wrong with the surgery and that I was determined to honor your wishes. She cussed me out, let me know that it was me who got you killed and that she was certain your ghost would come and haunt me for as long as I lived.”  
V grinned, vividly imagining Mamá Welles going off on Takemura, cursing him in every language she knew.  
"Yeah, she was never too fond of corpo people," V admitted, looking at her old friend. “Did you not tell her about Secure Your Soul?”  
“I tried, but she did not want to hear it,” he said, his voice rough. “She insisted that the corporations who tried to defy god were the root of all evil.”  
  
“That sounds like such a Johnny thing to say,” V laughed, feeling Takemura’s eyes on her.  
“What became of him, the engram?” he asked gently.  
“He didn’t particularly enjoy the separation,” V explained, her memories of everything happening while Arasaka operated on her brain still blurry. “Came around during my time in Mikoshi though, hung out with me whenever he felt like it.”  
“How was it…” Takemura carefully inquired. “Mikoshi?”  
“It’s hard to describe the all-encompassing feeling of detachment that overcomes you when you’re nothing more than bits and bytes floating around in some kind of super computer,” she answered with a wry grin. “Time loses all meaning, things cease to exist and so do you.”  
“That sounds unbearable,” the Arasaka soldier said, compassion in his voice.  
“It had a certain levity to it,” V answered. “Sometimes the engineers would spin me up, give my consciousness a day to catch up…”  
“Spin you up?” Takemura echoed.  
“Yeah, like Hanako did with Saburo’s engram during that board meeting at Arasaka Tower,” she explained. “No clue if this is common procedure or VIP treatment since it was Hanako who enrolled me, but yeah, every few months they uploaded me, placed my engram in this air gapped room and talked to me for hours on end, giving me the run-down of current world events, everything happening in Night City, intel on friends…” She trailed off, her eyes now on the water. “It made me feel, I dunno, human? If only for a moment, but I appreciated it.”  
Silence fell between them when both of them tended to their individual thoughts. V watched a heap of cherry blossom petals fall into the pond, a sudden feeling of gratefulness surging inside her chest, because, against all odds, she was here, alive and well, accompanied by an old friend, reveling in the beauty of this fleeting moment.  
“I asked about you,” she rasped into the quiet. “But all they would ever tell me was that you were doing well.”  
“People have been terminated for lesser mistakes than the ones I have made,” he shrugged. “I have returned to the country I call home, still alive, assigned to work mundane tasks that keep me just busy enough. I consider myself lucky.”  
“Lucky?” V smiled softly.  
"I find contentment in the quiet life,” he explained earnestly. “Or maybe I have simply grown tired of high profile work and the danger that comes with it.”  
“Looks like your age has finally caught up with you, old boy,” V teased him and he watched the laugh lines around her eyes crease. “But, to be honest, it sounds like a rather secluded life.”  
“Living in solitude was my decision,” Takemura replied. “I have spend most of my adult years tending to other people’s needs, finally having some time for myself was a welcome change.”  
  
“Good for you, Goro,” she said warmly as he looked into her face, his gaze holding hers. V watched something soften behind his pale eyes and her heart started fluttering inside her chest. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, as if something about her amused him, and when he moved his hand towards her face she lowered her lids and held still, cautiously waiting for his next move.  
She felt a strand of her hair brush against her cheek and her breath caught in her throat, but then his hand retreated, holding a single, light pink petal between his fingers.  
“Seems like you actually caught one today,” he husked, smiling, before he released it into the warm breeze that rustled through the leaves and blossoms above them.  
“Guess I got lucky,” she replied with a wry grin, her heart thundering inside her chest, the sudden pull she felt towards him leaving her breathless.  
“Let us move on, there is still a lot to see,” he said, his hand gentle against the small of her back, but the heat of his palm burning like fire on her skin.


	4. Glóandi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V takes Takemura up on his offer of showing her real food and meets him for dinner, their evening quickly turning into a minefield of mistakes made in the past waiting to be rehashed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are in the thick of this fic, and OMG, writing this was hard and also so much fun, I hope this transports through the 3600 and odd words. I just really want them to be happy, but as we all know, there are no happy endings in Cyberpunk 2077.
> 
> I also threw in some smut for good measure, because, let's face it, Takemura's still hot AF in 2087.
> 
> Thank you all for joining me on this ride, I appreciate your comments and interactions, this fandom is truly one of a kind :)

V found herself in front of a mahogany door, too nervous to simply knock. She looked at herself, an aramid-enforced blazer over a knotted tank, the skintight leather pants clinging to her legs, feet in combat boots, feeling a little more like her old self these days, but something wasn’t quite adding up, still. She sighed deeply before she brushed her long hair behind her shoulder and lifted her hand, knuckles gently tapping on wood.  
He opened the door almost immediately and the sight of him sparked a faint tug somewhere deep inside her chest. Takemura was wearing a white linen kimono shirt with a deep v-neck, revealing the entirety of the endoskeleton protecting his sternum and pants resembling his usual dark slacks, with a tonal graphic pattern. He kept his now almost fully-greyed hair in the same neat top-knot, a few rogue strands falling in his face that hadn’t aged a bit, even the cyberware had stayed the same. He was barefoot, and combined with his unusually casual get-up he looked like an entirely different person compared to the day before, where he was pure Arasaka, clad in an all-black suit with the accentual red belt.  
“Valerie,” he greeted her, wiping his hands on a towel which he languidly threw over his shoulder after it had fulfilled its purpose. “Please, come in.” He stepped aside, closing the door after she’d slipped off her boots and walked into his penthouse apartment overlooking the Arasaka compound and the surrounding city of Takamatsu.  
  
His home was tasteful and warm, the interior and furniture exclusive, but inviting. Dark wood dominated the space, contrasting with sand colored marble and cream-colored rugs and curtains, intricate patterns etched into surfaces and printed onto pillows and blankets added a playful note she’d never expected to find in his place.  
“I will have to resume my preparations,” he excused himself. “But please, make yourself at home.”  
V kept her eyes trained on him as he retreated inside his open kitchen overlooking a spacious dining area, its sheer size as intimidating as the sight of Goro deftly chopping vegetables.  
“I never took you for a cook,” she mused, stepping into his living room. “Just a very picky eater.”  
A wry grin crossed her lips when a sudden memory fell back into place – Goro musing about preparing onigiri with cod or grilled salmon while they were on a stake-out, before he finally settled on umeboshi plums – delighted by the mere thought of their taste and V couldn’t help but smile about the happiness in his voice.  
“It is not something I do often,” he admitted. “But when I find the time, I thoroughly enjoy it.”  
“So I do get to feel honored because you’re actually cooking _for me_?” she asked, her gaze meeting his.  
“I once said I would show you real food,” he said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “And I am not one to break promises.” The echo of his expression triggered the slightest hint of a déjà vu in the back of her mind and she paused next to the ceiling-high library that separated dining area and living room, filled with books to the brim, a flash of Takemura, dressed all black amidst the most sterile environment, promising her that they’d see each other again and that he would show her what real food was. She swallowed hard at the sudden wave of emotions surging inside her chest and her fingertips grasping the warm wood of the bookshelf in a desperate attempt to steady herself.  
“V, are you feeling unwell?” Takemura’s concerned voice sounded from the kitchen.  
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Just the occasional bouts of dizziness that come with being uploaded into a synth-bod after floating around as data for ten years.” A light laugh fell from her lips and she walked over to the kitchen counter, to him, leaning against the stainless steel surface.  
“Can I help you with something?” she asked, watching his skilled hands slice something that could only be raw fish.  
“No,” he husked, his expression suddenly tender. “Just sit and watch.”

Takemura eyed V, who sat across from him at his wooden dining room table, professionally handling the chopsticks he’d given her, her poise and table manners eerily differing from what he’d witnessed every time they’d shared a meal in Night City. She could’ve fooled him into thinking she was corpo born and bred with her straightened back and legs crossed underneath the table, casually eating her way through the different Japanese specialities he’d procured.  
“Damn, Goro,” she said appreciatively, looking at the gyoza between her chopsticks before she dipped it into the shallow bowl filled with soy sauce. “How can a tiny thing like this contain that much flavor?!”  
“Organic ingredients,” he answered as he watched her take a bite. “It’s the fresh vegetables.”  
“Shit, no wonder you loathed the Night City cuisine,” she joked, placing the second half in her mouth. “There was literally nothing organic about it.”  
Takemura remembered sitting at one of he street food vendors on Cherry Blossom Market, a plate of yakitori tasting like sawdust and plastic in front of him, horrified to see V chow down this abomination of a traditional Japanese dish with lightening speed before she asked if he planned to finish his, the wooden skewer already between her fingers.  
“Nothing I ate in Night City deserves to be called ‘cuisine’,” he grumbled. “Except for Mamá Welles tamales maybe.” His confession was met with a puzzled expression and V placed the chopsticks on her plate.  
“Hold on, Goro, I took _you_ to Coyote Cojo?” she inquired, her eyes narrowing.  
“You… do not recall?”, he asked, a faint tingle in the back of his head.  
“No,” V husked, her gaze turning inward as she seemingly racked her brain for the lost memories. “I remember seeing her for Jackie’s _ofrenda_ and a couple of times after that, but it was always just me,” she helplessly admitted. “I am sorry.”  
“No need to apologize,” Takemura assured her, the pit opening inside his stomach belying his confident tone. “It will come back to you, I am sure of it.”

***

V walked through the living room, the carpet soft and warm underneath her feet as she browsed his impressive selection of books.  
“Did you read all of them?” she asked, watching him through the open shelves as he tidied away the tableware.  
“Not quite,” he admitted. “But I am trying.”  
She ran her fingers along the gold-lettered spine of an old book when a rugged paperback caught her eye, sticking out like a sore thumb amidst all the linen covers, her heart suddenly in her throat. She gently pulled it from between two Japanese books, her thumb brushing over the title before she flipped it open, landing on a passage she’d read many times.  
“ _When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed, not you… Then, when you are badly wounded the first time, you lose that illusion,_ ” she recited, her voice rough. “Goro, how the hell did my book end up in your shelf in Japan?”  
He stopped whatever he was doing and turned around, an unreadable expression on his face.  
“You brought it all the way with you to the space station,” he answered. “It was among your things.”  
“Did you finally find the time to read it?” she inquired, her voice softening.  
“More than once,” he admitted as he walked towards her. “It reminded me of you, one part in particular.” He took the old book from her hands and flipped through it with quick fingers, stopping at a dog-eared page.  
“ _No animal has more liberty than the cat, but it buries the mess it makes. The cat is the best anarchist,_ ” he read aloud, his voice low.  
“So I take it that I am the anarchist cat in this scenario?” she rose her brow at him.  
“It always reminded me of the way you worked the tasks at hand,” he explained with a smirk. “Deliberate and silent, choosing the smart approach when you could have gone in guns blazing, virtues of great value if you ask me.”  
“Fine, I’ll take that backhanded compliment,” V huffed, a wry grin curling the corners of her mouth. “I love how elegantly you evaded my question, though.”  
“They asked me if I wanted to hold on to your belongings, shortly after you had entered the engram station,” Takemura husked, shutting the book before he placed it on the shelf. “I considered passing them to Vik or Misty, but…” The old soldier trailed off, the knowledge of how her friends had felt about her after she’d surrendered to Arasaka settling heavy between them.  
“So you kept it, for all those years?” she asked, her brows furrowed over glossy eyes.  
“Yes,” he answered truthfully. “Everything you took with you to the Arasaka facility is still here, shall today be the day I return your belongings to you?” He clasped his hands in front of his body, awaiting her answer.  
“Just… uh,” she began, her hand ghosting across her lips. “Just my… the yellow jacket. And, oh, my Malorian Arms 3516.”  
“Wait here,” he instructed her with a small bow, before he retreated inside his bedroom, carefully closing the shoji-doors behind him.  
  
Takemura knelt down in front of the charred chest placed at the foot of his bed, unlocking it with his finger pressed to the scanner. The contents inside still smelled faintly of her, he noticed, suddenly ashamed of the countless sleepless nights he’d spend sitting right in this spot, trying to find comfort in the fading remainder of her. Takemura lifted the holster with the gun in it, a chunky power pistol with a striking crimson handle he’d only seen her use once, as they fought their way through Arasaka Tower. He wrapped his fingers around the yellow leather jacket, heavily worn and soft to the touch after years, his gaze swiftly grazing the contents underneath, enveloped in white cotton. He sighed and closed the container before he returned to the living room, where he found V in front of the panoramic window leading to his balcony, her blazer already shed and neatly folded over the back of the couch.  
He had forgotten how colorful she used to be, and he paused to study the traditional ink adorning her upper arms, shoulders and torso, recalling how his fingertips had once retraced the designs on her back, the thought of her soft skin underneath his fingertips resulting in an unwanted longing. He cleared his throat and she turned around, eyes lighting up.  
“Holy shit!” she exclaimed, a wry grin on her face. “That thing hasn’t aged a bit.”  
Takemura placed the gun on a side table and held out the jacket so she could slip her arms into the sleeves, which she did without hesitation.  
“I don’t remember it being that dirty” she murmured, her fingernail scratching at a dark spot on the bright yellow rim of the collar. "Must’ve bled on it when I met Hanako at Embers.” She grabbed her hair to free it from underneath the jacket, when her fingers grazed Takemura’s still resting on her shoulders. She turned her head, peering at him through thick lashes, her eyes suddenly dark with desire.  
“Valerie,” he husked, but she’d already closed the distance, her lips crashing against his with the desperation of someone drowning. She shrugged the jacket off her shoulders, he groaned as she sunk her teeth into his bottom lip and wrapped his fingers around her arms in an attempt to guide her towards the couch facing the window. He felt the nails of V’s right hand ghost across the ridges of the cyberware protecting his neck before they came to rest right underneath his top knot, the fingers of her other hand digging into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer.

Her lips parted with a soft sigh as he lowered her onto the sofa with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, his free hand gripping the backrest, his knee gently nudging her thighs apart to anchor himself on the soft surface. The soldier broke the kiss, but she immediately pulled him back in.  
“Ten years were an awfully long time to wait for this,” she murmured with a soft smile, the syllables brushing against his lips and his heart fluttered, knowing that she’d returned to him, at least for the moment. “Not gonna let you go again.”  
He deepened the kiss, heat pooling inside his stomach as her tongue teased his, her palm firmly resting on his chest. She shifted her weight so he could pull his arm from underneath her, his hand now free to roam her body, fingertips exploring her skin, so warm, familiar and soft he sharply exhaled.

Her heartbeat was strong and fast, almost frantic as he cupped her breast, his thumb languidly caressing her nipple, causing her to arch her back, hips pressing against his. V hummed as she felt him straining in his pants and ground herself along his thigh, making him twitch and buck into her with a hiss.  
His fingers moved towards her pants, deft digits unbuttoning the fly in seconds, working the leather off her hips. Takemura moved away and straightened himself, pulling his shirt over his head, accidentally loosening the bun, silver strands tumbling into his face, over his shoulders and collarbones.  
“I’ve never seen you with your hair down,” V mused, admiration in her half-lidded gaze. “Looks like I missed out.”  
“Ask me nicely and I will consider leaving it like that,” Takemura teased her, slowly working the pants down her thighs. V propped herself up on her elbows, eyes trained on the Arasaka soldier, who knelt in front of her, still busy with removing her clothes.  
“Goro,” she husked, the neediness in her tone tightening his core. “Untie your hair for me, please.” He threw the pants aside and wrapped his palm around her calf as she sat up, now looking down on him.  
“As you wish,” he agreed, his voice gravelly and low as he tugged at the elastic, freeing the entirety of his silver mane, happy to see the lopsided smile grace her lips before she removed her tank top, slipped off the couch and into his lap.  
  
“See, I found my way back home,” she breathed against his cheek before she pressed a soft kiss on his temple, her fingers snaking into his head full of hair and Takemura screwed his eyes shut, overcome by the maelstrom of feelings surging inside his chest.  
“There were days I feared you wouldn’t,” he rasped, his hands smoothing down her back, lips ghosting along her collarbone. “I missed you, Valerie.”  
V felt a tear spill from her eye, running down her cheek and into Takemura’s hair, so deeply moved by his honest confession. His rough hand cupped her face, thumb tilting her chin down so his lips could meet hers again for another breathless kiss.  
She sank into him, ready to let go of the world around her and he gently pulled her body close to his before he turned V onto her back, covering her small frame with his broad shoulders.

Her hands were busy loosening his tied belt while he dragged his lips along her jawline and throat, making her shiver and sigh with pleasure.  
“I need to focus!” she scolded him with a grin in her voice and she felt him snort right underneath her ear.  
“I can give you a hand with that,” he teased, exhaling sharply as she answered by running her nails along the fabric stretching across his length.  
“Pretty sure I’ll manage,” she quipped, finally able to untie the knot and sneak her dainty fingers past his waistband, eliciting a moan that made heat pool in her stomach from deep inside Takemura’s chest.  
“Valerie,” he urged through gritted teeth as she slowly moved her palm along his erection, gently brushing the tip with every stroke. “Slow down… I… _Kuso!_ ”  
“Poor Goro,” she hummed, stilling her movement. “Already so worked up.” She hooked the fingers of her free hand into her panties and pushed them towards her knees in order to shimmy out of them, feeling the dampness of the fabric all the way down her thigh, blushing at the sensation.   
“Temptress,” Takemura rasped, his enhanced fingertips digging into the soft parts of her thigh when she remained silent and snuck her hands back to free him from the constraints of his underwear.  
“You wouldn’t want it any other way,” she assessed with a cunning grin, sliding his tip along her wet folds and he bucked into her with a low growl.  
“Don’t,” he warned her. “Or this will be over before it began.”  
“Thing is, Goro,” she murmured, her gaze holding his, not surprised to see that the silver ring around his irises was glowing bright white by now. “We got all the time in the world, so we can do it over and over and over again.” And just like that she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him into her orbit.  
  
He groaned as she took him in, the friction between them too much and not enough at the same time. Takemura watched V’s eyes widen as he slowly sunk into her, her mouth forming a perfect O before she screwed her eyes shut, brows knitting in concentration.  
A choked up moan spilled from her mouth as he started moving, their bodies falling back into familiar rhythms with ease. Takemura kissed her again, her panting breaths hot against his lips before she pulled back to look at him. V dragged her thumb along the cyberware embedded in his cheek, tucked a silvery strand behind his ear and he closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the tenderness of that gesture, a part of him thinking that he was undeserving of all the love and affection she’d showed him throughout their friendship. His reasons for saving her had been all but altruistic, yet it never stopped her from meeting him with kindness, respect and an enticing amount of sass. Even when death was at her doorstep, her lust for life and will to fight was unbroken, and for a moment she had shown him the possibility of a world beyond the confines of Arasaka, freedom from the shackles corporations had forced upon humanity decades ago.  
“Hey, where did you go?” she asked softly, her palms enveloping his jaw. Her gaze met his a split second before she bit her lip, lids fluttering close, arching her back when his hips rolled against hers and he yearned to feel her so much closer. The old soldier wrapped his arm around the small of her back, pulling her body flush against his and she sighed with pleasure.

He couldn’t ignore the faint coiling sensation inside his stomach any longer, so he tightened the grip around V’s waist in a desperate attempt to gain leverage while pushing into her. V murmured his name with a moan and entwined her legs behind his lower back, urging him deeper towards her heated core.  
“Fuck,” she cursed as he hit that sensitive spot just right, sending a jolt of electricity skittering up her spine and she felt herself tighten around him.  
“Valerie,” his voice caught in his throat, the neediness in his tone announcing his impending orgasm.  
“Don’t stop,” V begged, the electric currents dancing inside her stomach almost too much to take. “I’m close.” By now his pace was relentless, borderline punishing, keeping both of them teetering on the edge, panting breaths and noises of pleasure filling the silence of the room.  
“God, Goro,” she whispered, drawing a sharp breath as he twitched inside her, the minuscule movement finally pushing her over the edge. V cried out his name as her orgasm jolted through her body like lightening, leaving her skin tingling and ears ringing. She felt Takemura surrender to the sensation of her rhythmically tensing around him, finding his release only heartbeats later, spilling into her with a low, almost animalistic growl.

***

The old soldier found himself staring at V’s face, her expression so peaceful while she slept, her breathing soft and barely audible, the few strands of hair in her face moving with the airstream. His gaze wandered from the soft lines around her eyes to her petite nose covered in the same faint freckles he’d once admired in the faint morning light on an abandoned construction site, along the cyberware embedded in her cheeks, her face so familiar but at the same time foreign to him that it tore I’m up inside.  
By now he was sure that the subtle shifts in her entire demeanor weren’t caused by just lost memories she had yet to retrieve, but some more drastic and all-encompassing changes to her personality. There were seconds where he considered her a stranger, dressed in V’s skin, pretending to be someone she barely knew only to have all of her returned to him a moment later, dispelling all his previous doubts.  
He ached to touch her, pull her body into his, the thought of her soft and bed-warm skin against his stomach heating Takemura’s face. He imagined their limbs, still heavy with sleep, entwining underneath his silken sheets, languid movements and playful kisses, pretending they got all the time in the world, hidden from the harshness of reality in their cocoon.  
The Arasaka soldier sighed deeply and got out of the bed. He retrieved his slacks from the floor and slipped into them before he left his bedroom, silently shutting the shoji-doors behind him.

Takemura walked out onto his balcony, the cool nightly breeze enveloping his bare skin, bringing the clarity he so desperately longed for since the arrival of V had upended his carefully curated little life. The former bodyguard activated his holo and dialed a number, patiently waiting for the person on the other end to answer.  
“Takemura-san,” Oda greeted him, if he was surprised about him calling this late, he didn’t show it.  
“Oda,” Takemura rasped. “I need to talk to you.”  
“We are speaking right now,” the bodyguard replied, raising a brow.  
“In private,” the older soldier cut to the chase. “Meet me on the bridge at Ritsurin Park in thirty minutes.”  
“I will be there,” Oda promised with a quick bow before he hung up.


End file.
